Storm Brigades / Attack Guard

Kiev called on citizens to enroll in newly-created "storm brigades" [sturmovix brigad gvardiia], with acting Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko saying that the government expected serving police officers, border guards, and members of the National Guard to form the core of the units. The soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were defending Ukraine from the Russian invasion. The formation of new brigades of the National Guard, the National Police and the State Border Service would strengthen us during the coming offensive.

The Storm Brigades did not in fact entail forming entirely new units but rather regrouping existing forces and additional recruitment into existing combat units. This is somewhat good news, because it meant that at the core of the new brigades were units and troops with combat experience. They will participate in the de-occupation of Ukrainian Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. In March 2023, the speaker of the National Guard of Ukraine, Ruslan Muzychuk, said that these brigades would be trained for 2-4 months, and only after that they would be involved in combat .

On 18 January 2023 the helicopter carrying the top leadership of Ukraine's interior ministry crashed over a kindergarten in Brovary, Among those killed were Ukraine's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, his first deputy Yevhen Yenin and the Ministry's State Secretary Yurii Lubkovych. Igor Klimenko, the head of Ukraine's National Police, was appointed acting interior minister by Zelensky.

The force, dubbed "Attack Guard", is intended for Ukrainians "who have enough rage to beat the enemy," Klimenko said on national television on 02 February 2023. “First of all, they are the people who went through the furnace of 2014-2015," Klimenko explained as he described the intended recruits. Some of them went to war in 2022, too. Some of them were injured."

After the 2014 events in Kiev, the new authorities relied on so-called ‘volunteer battalions' – militia units formed predominantly from far-right Ukrainian nationalists – to fight rebel forces in the east of the county who rejected the new Ukrainian government. Those units were given access to heavy weapons and later partially incorporated into the newly-formed National Guard. The notorious Azov Regiment is arguably the best-known entity to have followed that path. RT reported "The ‘Attack Guard' website lists eight brigades that recruits can choose from, including one named ‘Azov'. Klimenko said six of the units are meant for national guardsmen, while the other two are for police officers and border guards respectively." In fact, the website only lists seven Brigades, none of which is named Azov,

Acting Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko stated this on the air of the United telethon. "The decision to create assault brigades was made by our workers who have enough fury to beat the enemy. Many of our servicemen, who defended and defend our country, took the initiative to recruit people into such units. Therefore, it was decided that all those who wish, who are patriots, who lost their homes or relatives due to the war, should be united in such brigades. We have already begun to form units aimed at liberating our territories and standing on internationally recognized borders. This is our immediate goal," said Ihor Klymenko.

He said that the basis of these units will be active policemen, border guards, and national guardsmen. "First of all, these are people who went through the crucible of 2014-2015, some of whom fought already in 2022. Some of them are wounded. The units will consist exclusively of volunteers who are driven by patriotism and there are a lot of such people in our country," Ihor Klymenko said.

According to him, a person who wants to join the "Offensive Guard" can submit a suitable application on the site storm.mvs.gov.ua, where all the brigades being recruited are presented. You can choose the brigade in which a person wants to serve, whether it is the brigade of the National Police "Lyut", or the brigades of the State Border Service "Steel Border" or six brigades of the National Guard. Or there is another option - there is a telephone hotline.

"You can sign up online by filling out a form and an operator will call you back within an hour and advise which recruiting point to come to, there are already more than 140 of them across Ukraine. The addresses of these points are on the website, every volunteer can come to the nearest such point. Also, the candidate must pass a military medical board, pass a psychological and physical test. After successful completion, he is enrolled in the brigade he chose," said the Acting Minister of Internal Affairs.

Klymenko also noted that all the fighters of these brigades have the benefits that are available to military personnel and policemen. "The military can go on a contract or on mobilization, this applies to the State Border Guard Service and the National Guard. All benefits and social guarantees are preserved, in addition, we offer a decent salary. We also offer the opportunity to obtain a profession in educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And, of course, everyone will be able to dispose of the enemy," said Ihor Klymenko.

According to Ihor Klymenko, there are a lot of motivated people and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will create all the conditions for the volunteers who will join these brigades so that they are interested in their own growth. "They will be among like-minded people. There will be high-quality commanders who have combat experience and protect personnel," he said.

The training of brigade fighters will last for several months: first individually, then as part of a unit, and when the commander understands that the unit is ready, they will proceed to perform combat tasks. When asked about the new force, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Donbass has yet to be fully secured by Russian troops, "which is why the special military operation continues." However, Peskov added that the security of Crimea, another former part of Ukraine, "is well provided for."

Ukraine reportedly ramped up military mobilization due to heavy frontline losses, although Kiev denies this. Aleksey Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, claimed in an interview this week that Ukrainians are lining up at conscription centers every day to submit information for possible mobilization. He dismissed videos circulating online which purportedly show a heavy-handed approach by mobilization officials, claiming they showed the detentions of dangerous criminals.

Recruitment for the Offensive Guard was highly visible, thanks to billboards, TV commercials, and catchy slogans. By the beginning of April , 35,000 applications had been received to join the Offensive Guard brigades , of which more than 16 were in the National Guard brigades. Almost 10% of those who applied have already been enrolled in military units. Deputy Interior Minister Yekaterina Pavlichenko said in an interview with UNIAN that 5% of applications came from women. The Khartiia brigade, formerly the Kharkiv Voluntary Territorial Hromada Formation, which was part of the 127th Territorial Defence Brigade, joined the Offensive Guard, becoming its ninth brigade.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko announced 01 April 2023 that in a few months, volunteers from the reserve units would be able to join the assault brigades. “We are primarily preparing the Offensive Guard for the further de-occupation of our territories. To date, 8 brigades have been formed, we are ready for active offensive measures as part of the Defense Forces. At the same time, we are ready for stabilization measures. We have received several tens of thousands of applications ... . We see how people go and go. We wanted to suspend enrollment in the Offensive Guard, because the units are practically formed, at the same time we have quite a lot of completed questionnaires, applications for service in the Offensive Guard. Therefore, we decided to continue the formation reserve units so that in a few months the volunteers could be well trained, armed, so that they would also be involved in assault activities in the future," he said.